Since starting my career as a foodservice broker, I’ve worked with many wonderful people and brands. Every manufacture client that Portillo Sales & Marketing represent challenges me in their own unique way and it not only makes our company better, but me too.

When it comes to representing foodservice manufacturers, no one partnership is the same. Every manufacturer has their own strategies, policies, and processes, and it’s important for us as brokers to build our client specific strategy within the parameters of those understandings.

However, I have come to find that the best-of-the-best manufacturers do 3 things extremely well in managing their broker partners. Commissions are important, but when the intangibles are aligned, that’s when the manufacture-broker relationship cultivates and thrives.

In a relationship driven industry, having a mutual trust and belief in one another with the proper support and direction is paramount to what we all seek: Growth!

Here are 3 tips every manufacture should use when managing their broker partners:

1. Collaborate and Build Objectives Together
2. World Class Training & Support
3. Work in Parallel

1. Collaborate and Build Objectives Together

As the manufacture representative, it’s important that you understand your numbers and company direction. Before meeting with your broker to build-out objectives, determine what are the key metrics that drive your economic engine.

From there, set time with your foodservice broker partner to construct a strategy. You hired them to be the local market expert, so it’s important to let them collaborate in the strategic planning process. We do this exercise with our team members too. When we allow the team to be a part of the planning process, it creates ownership for everyone involved.

I would shy away from handing the broker expectations that they had no say in creating. They are a part of your sales and marketing efforts and having their buy-in is critical for your mutual success. Brokers manage multiple brands, so it’s important that you’re positioning yourself and your brand in a way where the broker is excited about growing your line.

What I have seen the best-of-the-best manufacturers do consistently, is provide world class training and support to their broker teams.

2. World Class Training & Support

Food broker reps are responsible for broadly understanding the message, products, and competitive set of every brand they represent, so it’s important to make yourself a trusted resource they can rely on. One important nugget I’ve learned is that we trust those we learn from.

I recently wrote an article on the Ultimate Guide to Food Broker Onboarding where I highlight the important steps in training your broker team. The manufacturers that execute this part, win more often than those who don’t. There is a cost associated with training, not just in opportunity, but travel expenses to visit your broker, so it’s imperative to get the training done right.

Once you have your broker team trained, invite them back to your production facilities to see how the products are produced. Every time a manufacture has invited our team back to their corporate headquarters to meet the production staff and witness how the products are produced, it builds a level of confidence and brand equity I haven’t seen elsewhere in other training tactics. Our team every time returns fired up about that manufacture and that enthusiasm pours over on to the operator and distributor too. It’s a win-win for everyone.

I would recommend building a standardized training seminar process for this. There have been a few manufacturers that have perfected this process, and they will hold bi-annual meetings where they pay for new members of their broker teams to join and go through a thorough training. From cutting against the competitive set, to meeting the owners, to walking the production floor, the more we understand as your broker team, the more we want to share that story with our customers.

Additionally, as brokers begin to drum up opportunities, it’s important that the manufacture support those efforts. Timely communication, ample product samples, and even in the beginning, bending on price to win business and help put a win on the board go a long way. It’s the little things that happen daily that mold the foundation of the manufacture-broker relationship over the long term.

Which leads me into one of the most important levers the best-of-the-best manufacturers pull to create buy-in from their broker teams: they work in parallel.

3. Work in Parallel

Now that you have your objectives built, the broker staff is trained, it’s time to put sales on the board!

This 3rd part is all about management style. As brokers, we work with all different temperaments, styles, and expectations from our manufacture clients. I can usually tell in the interview process how my team and I will be managed by the manufacture and whether we can work together or not. Like anything, the broker-manufacture relationship comes down to mutual fit. You have to trust in me and I need to have support from you. Everything else will fall into place.

The broker is not the boss of the manufacture and the manufacture does not control the actions of the broker. It’s an equal partnership in which consistent cultivation is necessary to be successful. (And yes, micro-managing of the broker does not work. I don’t think we’ve ever grown a line when there was intense pressure all the time. At the end of the day, we are only selling food).

The manufacturers that provide the space to the broker to be themselves, typically fair better than those who don’t. Those that lead with kindness and appreciation, foster a culture where the people in the brokerage company feel more confident and comfortable selling their products. As an added bonus, they’ll also probably notice the broker reaching out more often, asking for help when they get stuck, or sharing when they get a nice win.

I absolutely love when there is harmony between Portillo and our manufacture clients. Sure, we are not perfect by any means, but when our relationship just clicks, selling is fun. Especially when the manufacture and broker are working in tandem to achieve their mutual goals together.

When a manufacture invests in programs like GPO’s or other national/regional opportunities (such as restaurant chain sales) and incorporates the broker in those sales, you feel like a team. Brokers get a tough rap in the foodservice industry because we play an intermediary role between three distinct customers: Distributor, Manufacture, and Operator. Being in the middle, can be a lonely island at times and a hard place to be when bad news need to be communicated. When we feel we have each other and are working toward a common goal, all boats rise.

The broker-manufacture relationship is a two-way street, and when it works, man, there is nothing like it!

The very best,
Nick Portillo

P.S. If you missed my last article on What Does a Food Broker Do? make sure to check it out here.

While there is no one size fits all for what each manufacture requires, food brokers are typically responsible for 3 things:

1. Introduce New Product Innovation
2. Report Market Intelligence
3. Achieve the Sales Plan

Does it make financial sense for foodservice manufactures to partner with food brokers?

The cost of making a sales call is at an all-time high. From putting fuel in the car, to labor, to travel, and beyond, employing a direct sales force in every market throughout the country can be costly.

Working with a foodservice broker is usually a more cost-efficient way to scale sales and marketing efforts. For technical purposes, food brokers fees will usually be built in to “Cost of Goods” on a Profit & Loss Statement, whereas a direct sales force falls lower on the P&L under the “Expense” column.

Rather than carry the fixed overhead costs of a direct sales force, the broker fee is built into the price of the manufacture’s products. This is a mitigation measure too. If sales decrease – as seen during the pandemic – the broker fee will decrease in conjunction.

So WHAT does a food broker actually do?

1. Introduce New Product Innovation

Manufactures must consistently find ways to increase profits and they can do so by producing new, innovative items.

However, production is only one part of the game of business.

Like a fish needs water, foodservice manufactures need the pull through at both the Operator and Distributor level to increase production and therefore, profitability too.

This is where the Foodservice Broker comes in. In a coordinated effort, foodservice manufactures can train and educate their broker sales force on the features and benefits of their new, innovative products. In turn, the broker can communicate that message to their base of operator and distributor partners with the objective to grow sales.

As the local market experts, brokers will handle everything from product cuttings, to price negotiation, to ensuring the product gets properly stocked in distribution. Foodservice sales is more of a slow moving vessel that soaks up a lot of time and money. It’s on the broker to absorb the costs of introducing new innovation and they do so by leveraging their portfolio of brands.

For example, in California, a manufacture could reasonably make 1 sales presentation for about $400; this includes: labor, travel, and other variable expenses. For a broker, they can syndicate that same call by leveraging multiple brands and products, thus reducing the overall cost from let’s say, $400 to $100/brand.

In return, the broker is compensated in perpetuity on the sale and the manufacture increases profitability, creating a win-win scenario.

2. Report Market Intelligence

Communication is what makes the foodservice world go round.

At Portillo Sales & Marketing, we cover both California and Nevada, yet what a difference a 1-hour drive can make in the overall consumer profile in a local area. As the pandemic taught, rules and ideologies can vary greatly county-to-county. Communicating local market intelligence on a consistent basis is the crux for success in foodservice sales.

Brokers typically use a CRM Tool to database their daily sales results and those can be utilized by the manufacture to make accurate predictions and decisions. Often, the manufacture doesn’t live within a local market and thus rely on the broker to relay market intelligence.

For example, the consumer makeup in Los Angeles is completely different than that of Birmingham. The customer needs are anything but the same, so it is on the broker to council the manufacture on what they are experiencing locally so that they can cater their marketing message, pricing, etc. to the demands of the market.

3. Achieve the Sales Plan

Isn’t that what we all want?

A foodservice broker wears many hats and they face competing priorities on a daily basis, yet must keep the main goal, the main goal: achieve the sales plan.

Manufacture’s expectations vary greatly from one to another, so it’s important for the broker to receive clear direction and a mutually-agreed upon plan to execute. Sales plans can be as basic or complex as you’d like, but a good guide follows something like this:

• Communicates mutually-agreed upon objectives
• Details the roles of the broker and how the manufacture can support
• Allows the broker to work strategically
• Sets metrics to analyze Key Performance Indicators at the conclusion of the specified time period

At Portillo, we focus on calling on the larger, Strategic Accounts that can move the sales needle. We then can enter that sales data into our CRM system and measure it against our objectives to assess sales plan achievement. In everything we do, we strive for 100% achievement.

The very best,
Nick Portillo

In case you missed it, make sure to check out my last post on the 3 Ways to Maximize Work-With ROI. In a sales driven world, it pays to get work-with’s right.

It gives you instant access to the local market and an opportunity to grow sales. Isn’t that what it’s all about? 

Unfortunately, “work-withs” are not always as productive as you’d like them to be… 

You may go to the wrong type of account, or one that’s too small, or sit in front of a non-decision-making person. This is not only frustrating, but a poor return on investment. In order to avoid these pitfalls, focus on the 3 Ways to Maximize Work-With ROI: 

Provide Ample Advanced Notice

The hardest part in scheduling ride-withs is getting customers to say “yes” to meet with the person you have visiting the market. Chefs especially are very busy professionals. There are multiple meals and a staff they oversee, making time a precious commodity. 

With that said, to get more value out of your ride-withs, I recommend providing at least 4 weeks advance notice before your trip. Lay out the days you would like to work the market and understand that much of the work-with schedule will formalize a week prior to your trip. This advanced notice will provide your broker or distributor team the latitude and space to set up a productive trip. 

It does happen when you want to visit a market and only provide a week or two in advance. This is recipe for a low return trip. It puts a lot of stress on your sales force to corral enough quality customers together to make a productive visit. I would highly advise against this. 

Get More People Selling on Your Behalf 

You can only be in one place at one time. That is not scalable. But what is scalable, is teaching others how to confidently sell on your behalf when you’re not there.  

When you make those market visits, don’t pigeonhole yourself in to working with just one broker rep or one DSR. Multiple your efforts. It may mean making a customer call or two less, but meeting with more salespeople who can sell on your behalf has an immediate return on effort. Take them to meal or meet them at a hotel or their office. The more collaboration you can have with people that are customer facing in a certain market, the more you can comfortably feel that your brand is in good hands. 

Focus on Strategic Accounts ONLY 

Prior to making a market visit, it’s best practice to hold an informal meeting with your in-market sales team to review mutual expectations for the trip. The trip must drive value for all parties involved so pre-empted communication will go along way. 

When it comes to your market visit, focus on more with less. It’s stressful when Regional Managers enter the market and request an unrealistic number of calls as opposed to 2 or 3 Strategic Accounts per day.  

At Portillo Sales & Marketing, we do receive requests to see 6-7 customers in a day. Without context, that may appear as a reasonable ask, yet when you factor in presentation and drive time, it’s not as clear cut. Anybody can cram 6 single-unit restaurants together because the owner operator is typically at the business every day, but when they agree to purchase a case or 2 per week, was that worth anyone’s time? 

I recently wrote an article on What I Wish I Knew on My First Day in Foodservice, and in it, I linked a free resource on how to classify Strategic Accounts by segment. I challenge you to stick to this Strategic Account Classification Guide and focus your energy on the top opportunities. Again, more with less.  

The cost of travel is not going down, rather consistently rising. As foodservice sales professionals, our days are unpredictable and filled with tasks that take us in every direction. It’s important that when you make the time to visit a market, that you focus on the 3 Ways to Maximize Work-With ROI. 

The very best, 
Nick Portillo 

 P.S., in case you missed it, make sure to check out my last article on The Ultimate Guide to Food Broker Onboarding. 

Properly onboarding your food broker is a crucial step in your journey toward sales growth.  

 This process requires: 

1. Pre-Training Preparation 
2. In-Person Training  
3. Customer Service Team Training 
4. Broker Ride-Withs 
5. Objective Planning

Let’s first discuss the training part… 

This is one of the most haphazardly planned areas of onboarding a new food broker. A broker must learn thousands of sku’s across multiple brands, so if the training isn’t done right, their results will reflect that.  

Front loading your time and resources to properly train your food broker on day one will reduce the need to constantly re-train your broker forever. 

Pre-Training Preparation 

After the contract is signed, it’s time to send in samples and get a training date on the calendar. 

Every broker’s schedule is different, so it’s important to be proactive… First come, first serve! 

As your training day nears, you’ll want to prepare the following in advance: 

1. Stocking Guides: This is the most overlooked training tool that most don’t provide. Brokers must know where your product is stocked locally.  
2. Powerpoint Presentation: Build out an interactive presentation. The shorter the better.  
3. Pricing: Prepare updated FOB pricing. For your core items, determine the average portion cost with a 20% distributor markup.  
4. Flash Drive & Dropbox: Upload everything to a portable flash drive or a Dropbox account so they can have it in one place. 

Putting in the time to be prepared is time consuming, but the most prepared usually get a better return on investment… Especially early on.

In-Person Training Day  

Do NOT do a virtual training over an in-person one. Virtual trainings are easier and more cost effective, but the amount of distractions that exist make it hard for everyone to stay engaged. In-person trainings should be interactive, engaging, and full of the most pertinent information. Focus on what questions customers typically ask and train your brokers so that they can confidently answer those. 

After you conclude your Powerpoint presentation, sample your core items. This can be done in 2 ways: 

1. On Its Own 
2. Incorporated into a Recipe 

The best trainers cut against their competitor’s products. Your brokers will face the competition eventually, best to prepare them with you there. 

BONUS: Come prepared with pre-paid gift cards and reward the broker reps who are engaged. Competition is a good thing! 

Customer Service Team Training 

This is an oft neglected group when it comes to training. These are the people who will be working in the trenches for you daily handling customer complaints and questions. They’re customer facing and it’s best to ensure they are trained. 

At Portillo Sales & Marketing, we take great pride in our Customer Service Team. For each of our clients, we require the following: 

1. Current Distributor Info & Contacts 
2. Warehouse Locations 
3. Manufacture Contacts 
4. Ordering Procedures 
5. Sampling Policies 
6. Updated Pricing 
7. POS 

Take the time to sit one-on-one with the broker’s customer service team. They’ll be your lifeline when it comes to problems and communications.

Broker Ride-Withs 

The most value your broker sales reps will gain comes when you meet with customers together in the field. They can witness how you make your presentation, overcome objections, and close the sale. However, I would NOT recommend asking your broker to set up ride-withs until AFTER your in-person training is done. Brokers need to be properly trained first instead of rushed out to set appointments for products they know nothing about yet.    

Allow them time to digest the training, get out to see their customers, and then follow up with a ride-with. 

BONUS: Return to the market and meet with your broker reps on-one-one so that they can ask questions and go a level deeper in their training.

Objective Planning 

Once training is complete and the team feels comfortable with your product line, it’s time to meet with the broker’s leadership team and establish mutually agreed upon goals. This should be a collaborative effort. It’s ok to take the first quarter or two of your relationship together to set easier, attainable goals to get a feel for each other’s capabilities.  

I hope you found this guide helpful and just remember, the more time and effort you put in to onboarding your next food broker, the greater return on investment you will get! 

The very best, 
Nick Portillo 

P.S. in case you missed my last article, make sure to check out the 7 Steps to Hire Your Next Food Broker.

 

 

Hiring a new foodservice broker takes time, patience and financial resources. This isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly. You must understand the capabilities of the broker you select and make sure you two are a fit. Making the wrong choice doesn’t benefit either party in the long run and will lead to disappointment.

So how do I know which broker to hire?  

First, Determine Your “Why” for Hiring a Foodservice Broker 

Before canvassing the country trying to find a broker in every market to support your initiatives, first map out, “why” you need them. 

At Portillo Sales & Marketing, we have worked with manufactures of all different types over the past near decade. When we discuss a potential partnership with a manufacture, we commonly ask the question, “where are you today, and where do you want to go?” It gives the manufacture the opportunity to think about why hiring us or another broker is right for them. 

We have come to find that the majority of those whom we ask this question to don’t know their answer to the question. And that is ok! We live busy lives, but it would serve you to take some time and write out your “why.” 

There’s Not a One Size Fits All 

Foodservice brokers come in all different shapes and sizes. That’s the beauty of making your decision on “who” to hire. There are big, national brokers all the way to smaller, solopreneur type brokers.  It’s important to map out “what” you need the broker for. 

 For example, at Portillo, we represent brands that rely on us to be their sole sales & marketing team. They contract out with us and we handle everything from lead generation, to customer service, to sales planning and execution. On the flip side, we represent brands that hire us just for our customer service capabilities. They have limited resources and need us to be customer facing when problems, PO’s, etc. arise. 

Figure out what you need, and communicate that to your brokers. 

Conflicts, Conflicts, Conflicts…

Foodservice brokers can only represent a finite number of brands. A lot of that has to do with product overlap. In the broker world, there are: Hard Conflicts & Soft Conflicts. 

Hard Conflict – Brokers cannot represent Pepsi & Coca-Cola simultaneously. The products are in the same exact category, being purchased by the same customer avatar, and they wouldn’t want customer conversions to the other nor want internal information being shared. 

 Soft Conflict – 2 manufactures with completely different core products that also produce a lesser priority product line that is similar.  

 Typically, if your main product category conflicts with a current client of the broker, they will need to decide if they should resign their current client to partner with you.  

 The Different Types of Foodservice Brokers

• National Brokers – Large, nationwide organizations that cover every market.  
• Regional Brokers – Region specific organizations. 
• Local Market Brokers – Organizations focused on one market only. 
• Specialty Brokers – Segment or product-type specific organizations. 
• Boutique Brokers – 1-2 person team in one market. May be a solopreneur.

Determining what scale your brand needs and resources you possess, can help steer which direction to take.

Figure Out Your Budget

Yes, there is a cost to working with brokers… How much you are willing to invest in a foodservice broker will depend on different factors for every company. However, if sales growth is important to you, there will be a cost to grow. 

Brokers most commonly receive compensation in 2 forms:  

1. Commission – Paid on sales in their market(s). 
2. Retainer – Fixed monthly fee.  

If you have underdeveloped sales, the retainer may be your best option until sales increase. The size of the retainer will be market specific. For example, the cost of doing business in San Francisco is significantly greater than Memphis. 

Where to Find the Broker Right for You 

Start with Google. Type in “Foodservice Broker” and then the “Area” and hit search.  

From there, I would consult with 3 Manufacture colleagues who have experience working with brokers in your area(s) of need. Some questions I would ask: 

1. Do they achieve your objectives? 
2. How is their follow up? 
3. Are they Operator or Distributor centric? 
4. Is their team comfortable selling your products? 

With these answers, you can get a decent understanding of what to expect. 

Putting it All Together 

Once you have your “Why,” “What,” and “Who,” you need to be prepared to ink the deal and get your brokers set up. This process will require: 

1. Collecting the broker’s W-9 Form 
2. Presenting a Contract – This is typically put together by you as the manufacture, but brokers will have templates they can share with you too 
3. Set an Onboarding Date to train the broker 
4. Establish Mutual Goals 
5. Give them all the tools they need to be successful 

Hiring a broker can be challenging, but when you find the right one(s) for you, they can make a significant impact on your business! 

If you found this article interesting, it would be so much to me if you would share it on your LinkedIn page. The more we help one another in the foodservice industry, the more we grow together. 

The very best, 
Nick Portillo

P.S. in case you missed it, make sure to check out my last post: What I Wish I Knew on My First Day in Foodservice

Bonus: Free Downloaded Strategic Account Guide at the bottom

As broker and manufacture reps, the pressure can sometimes be overwhelming. We have quotas and KPI’s that are important to hit so that our companies can keep the lights on.

I know what the pressure feels like. I live in the biggest foodservice market in the country… California has the largest population in the country, is the 6th largest economy in the world, and has a population base that is more open to trendier cuisines. When foodservice sales leadership draw up their yearly KPI’s, California is literally the perfect place – in theory – to increase sales and introduce new innovations.

Activity vs Productivity

When I first began in the Foodservice Industry, I would walk up and down Pacific Coast Highway knocking on small café doors. I was gaining experience, but my sales barely grew.

I once asked a foodservice sales manager, “what’s the biggest mistake your brokers and direct sales reports make?” He told me: “When they confuse activity with productivity.”

In a world controlled by the CRM, we have been conditioned to be an activity-based versus objective-based minded industry.

THIS. IS. A. HUGE. MISTAKE.

The biggest mistake we make as foodservice salespeople is calling on the WRONG ACCOUNTS. Think of the #1 salesperson you know in foodservice… That person is probably not calling on the wrong accounts! Calling on the wrong accounts in foodservice is way too commonplace, and yet, we waste our time, energy, and financial resources on low impact opportunities.

How to Find the RIGHT Accounts for you:

So… HOW do I know if I am calling on the RIGHT accounts?

In sales, our daily activities have an opportunity cost. If we’re out making a product cutting at a 1-unit café who may buy 2 cases per week, is that the best use of our time? The key to growing sales with the same amount of effort: Call on BETTER accounts!

At Portillo Sales & Marketing, we are constantly reinforcing the importance of having relationships with what we call, “Strategic Accounts.” Everything we do is around Strategic Accounts… These are customers who can move the needle!

Foodservice sales are predicted on what distribution will stock… If that account you’re calling on doesn’t influence a buying a decision at the distributor, you have a long road ahead of you.

We’ve created a free downloadable, Strategic Account Classification Guide that categorizes every operator segment and ranks the accounts within them by size. Review the customers you are currently working on and see where they land on the grid.

How the Strategic Account Classification Guide Works?

If you’re the person already putting 80%+ of your time against Strategic Accounts, then double down on that and keep going. However, if your sales are flat or sluggish, you may be too heavily weighted in the “C” Account territory. Just aim a tad bit higher.

The Strategic Account Classification Guide breaks down accounts into the following:

1. Strategic Accounts: These are accounts that MOVE the freakin’ needle!
2. “B” Accounts: Medium size accounts.
3. “C” Accounts: These are the ones that don’t purchase much. In distribution, these are the highest margin accounts, but for brokers and manufactures, these accounts are best added into your marketing funnel and not visited in person.

I have learned so many valuable lessons in this industry and calling on the RIGHT accounts can make all the difference in your sales.

What do you think?